There Is Only One Sinnacle

Reports: Samuel Eto’o Wants More Money To Join Manchester City From Barcelona

On Monday, it was initially reported that the Citizens had made an official €29.5 million (£25m) bid for the 28-year-old and that the deal could even be completed this week.

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Didn’t really think Manchester City would sign both Tevez and Eto’o plus I’m sure Eto’o really doesn’t want to leave Barcelona. The club however isn’t really fighting off any major offers for their star striker.

Barcelona Hours Away From Closing Keirrison Deal – Report

Barcelona are reportedly on the verge of signing Brazilian wunderkind Keirrison from Palmeiras, who confirmed four days ago that they had received an official offer from the Catalan juggernauts.

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I’ve seen a couple of Palmeiras games this summer and while it’s a limited sample I could see what the hype is about with regards to Keirrison. Still misses a few too many chances however his movements in the box is top notch and he is always a threat with the ball on his feet.

Report: Inter To Pip Milan To Porto Defender Aly Cissokho

The Italian champions are mulling over a bid for the French full-back after his move to Milan collapsed.

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It makes a good headline and while I’m sure Inter would love to one up A.C Milan plus you know Cissokho would go all out in any Milan derby. That being said just don’t see Inter selling Maicon unless some silly money comes their way. In the end it’s all about money and I’d lean to the side that Inter will give Maicon a new contract instead of selling him.

Benfica Transfer For Falcao Stalls Over Debt

According to reports, the Argentine heavyweights owe the Colombian €400,000, and Falcao isn’t willing to leave the Argentine capital without the cash.

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Far from the biggest fan of Benfica’s transfer policy the last couple of years but I’d love to see Falcao suit up for Benfica. Good for Falcao as well, get that money which would be owed to him. If Benfica wishes to push this transfer through they would most likely split the different with Benfica offering 200k more and then River Plate paying their remaining share.

Arsenal have been stunned by Andrey Arshavin’s revelation that he would be “really happy” to play for Barcelona if he gets the chance. Full story: The Sun

I’ve greatly enjoyed Arshavin’s short time in England. From his stunning four goal display against Liverpool to his complaining about Women drivers, English food, English taxes and now this. Don’t worry Arsenal fans, Barcelona could of had Arshavin last year and didn’t exactly jump at the chance to do so following his Euro 2008 performance.

Chelsea are poised to complete a hat-trick of signings by landing CSKA Moscow forward Yuri Zhirkov, Manchester City forward Daniel Sturridge and Middlesbrough goalkeeper Ross Turnbull. Full story: Daily Mirror

Something tells me if Chelsea had a press conference for all three players on the same day that Ross Turnbull would be fielding the least questions from the press.

Meanwhile, Reds defender Alvaro Arbeloa is set to seal a switch to Real for about £5m. (The Independent)

This would be one of a few bargains Real Madrid would likely get in this transfer season.

Aston Villa are ready to pay £5m for Espanyol forward Luis Garcia, who is also wanted by Porto. Full story: The Sun

Villa are also set to bid £5m for Middlesbrough midfielder Tuncay. Full story: Daily Mirror

All things being equal including price Aston Villa should go for the player who is used to English football compared to the player who would need time to adapt.

Tottenham have joined the chase for Groningen’s Sweden international striker Marcus Berg but they may need to pay £10m to beat Everton to his signature. Full story: Daily Mirror

Much more realistic figure compared to the price quoted yesterday.

Spurs have told Villarreal they want cash plus Sebastien Eguren and Marcos Senna in exchange for striker Roman Pavlyuchenko. (The Times)

Could see Marcos Senna even at an advance age still doing a job for Tottenham. Not sold on Pavlyuchenko becoming a hit in Spanish football mind you.

Wolves are set to sign Reading striker Kevin Doyle for a club record fee of £6.5m. Full story: The Sun

Reading hasn’t done too badly for itself selling strikers these last two years. Last year Stoke purchased Dave Kitson for 5.5 million who scored a grand total of 0 goals of them. This year it looks like another 6.5 million will be coming their way for Irish international Kevin Doyle.

Former Aston Villa manager David O’Leary says his successor Martin O’Neill has not helped the club progress. Full story: Daily Mirror

Term sour grapes come to mind.

Report: Juventus & Lyon Contemplate David Trezeguet – Fabio Grosso Swap Deal

The possible departure of Benzema for Manchester United could see Lyon turn to ‘Trezegol’, with Grosso moving to Turin in return.

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Make no secret that I’m a fan of Grosso however Lyon would win this move hands down. In basketball you rarely trade a big man for a guard and in football it’s even rarely to see a striker being moved for a defender. Barring injures Trezeguet should make a much bigger impact at Lyon than Grosso will at Juventus.

Sadly this is all I have for now. Slow day for the most part.

Manchester City are set to make a £50m double swoop for Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o and Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez. Full story: Daily Star

Eto’o will earn a staggering £250,000 a week – £13m a year – if the £25m transfer to City goes through. Full story: The Sun

Just don’t get Manchester City. Are they going to play with six strikers up front? Tevez, Eto’o, Valeri Bojinov, Robinho, Darius Vassell, Jo, Felipe Caicedo, Ched Evans, Benjani, Craig Bellamy, and Roque Santa Cruz all strikers. Most of these players on this list have been signed for huge transfer fees in the last two years as well.

Manchester United are on the verge of completing a £16m deal to sign Wigan winger Luis Antonio Valencia. Full story: Daily Mirror

Hopefully for Valencia his English is still poor so he doesn’t have to deal with the replacing Ronaldo questions all year.

Everton are tracking £5m-rated Sweden Under-21 striker Marcus Berg, who plays for Groningen. (Daily Mirror)

A lot of teams will be on the look up for Marcus Berg after his under 21 performance. Look for his transfer fee to rise above 5 million if Groningen decides to sell.

Birmingham are interested in Rangers midfielder Barry Ferguson and will table a £1m bid for him this week. The Sun

With Rangers have a lot of midfielders on their books and Ferguson being one of their highest paid players I’m sure they would love for him to link up with old manager Alex Mcleish again.

Former Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has claimed Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Petr Cech did not accept his methods of training while he was at the Blues. The Brazilian also says he will never again work in English football. The Sun

Shocked it took Mount Scolari til after the season for him to blow up regarding his time at Chelsea.

Brazil Fight Back To Beat USA And Lift Confederations Cup

Brazil fought back from 2-0 down to lift the Confederations Cup of 2009 with a thrilling victory in Johannesburg.

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Almost twelve hours later and I still can’t decide if this result was a good thing or a bad thing for U.S football. On one hand they defeated up until Wednesday the best team in the world and for 45 minutes outclassed Brazil. Then Luis Fabiano score to start the second half and Team USA just played timid after that point trying to hold on to a lead with Brazil throwing everything at them. Credit must go to Brazil here who no one can say doesn’t play football the right way. They could of easily fallen apart. How many times do you see times go down 2-0 and start sulking on the pitch. Instead they regrouped at halftime and put on an inspired second half performance.

Brazilian’s performance is the gulf in class team USA must somehow find a way to make up. Despite a great game from Tim Howard, Brazil took it to another level. Why? Well because they are use to the pressures of a final where as the U.S wore down from the pressure as the game went down. Yesterday’s display is why it’s so hard to break through at the World Cup. Teams like Brazil, Italy, Germany, Argentina are used to the pressure where as team U.S.A will hope to build from this experience going into next year.

”Irreplaceable” Ribery not for sale, insist Bayern

Ribery is one of Europe’s hottest properties, with Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona reportedly vying for his signature.

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Bayern Munich is right, Ribery to them is irreplaceable. They wouldn’t be able to go out and sign a replacement who offers what Ribery does. These Nani as a make weight to Wigan make no sense and while it’s doubtful Ribery wants to play in England a Nani+a ton of cash would at least make Bayern Munich consider it however.

Atletico Madrid Facing More Transfer Woes As Maxi Rodriguez Refuses To Leave

Atletico Madrid’s refusal to entertain any unsatisfactory offers for Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan has left the club with a massive headache in their transfer bank accounts.

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It’s rare to see a player who wants to stay with a club. The flip side with Maxi Rodriguez contract running out in 12 months it is a big FU to Atletico Madrid if Rodriguez does decide to leave on a free transfer.

Benfica Eye Real Madrid’s Javier Saviola Loan

SL Benfica have made an offer to sign Real Madrid striker Javier Saviola on loan, the player’s agent has confirmed.

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Not the biggest news story but still wanted to make mention of it. Would love to see Saviola play for Benfica. It’s about time Saviola wises up and realizes a man down the ladder to a club like Benfica could do wonders to his career.

Manchester United are a step closer to a £30m deal for Lyon striker Karim Benzema after the French side made a £15m move for Porto forward Lisandro Lopez. Daily Star

It’s natural to link the two together but still stand by my original option that Benzema won’t be leaving Lyon in a World Cup year.

Sir Alex Ferguson has offered Manchester United’s Portuguese winger Nani to Wigan as bait in his bid to sign Ecuador winger Antonio Valencia. (Daily Mirror)

Don’t care if Sir Alex Ferguson throws a shoe at Nani just can’t see him going to Wigan willingly.

Brazilian club Gremio have rejected a request from Manchester United to take midfielder Douglas Costa on a three-week trial because they want a straight cash bid. The Times

As Germio should say no to this request. How are you going to expect a team to loan out a player when your sitting on 100 million in transfer funds? It’s a no win spot for Germio, if Costa fails to impress Manchester United will send him back and bad mouth the player’s skills thus killing his value.

Inter Milan’s Brazilian right-back Maicon is also a £10m target for City manager Mark Hughes. Daily Express

I’d love to know how the daily express can think Maicon’s value is only 10 million when Glen Johnson was sold for 17 million.

Liverpool will offload winger Sebastian Leto to Greek club Panathinaikos for £3m with defender Alvaro Arbeloa set to join Real Madrid in the next few days. Telegraph

Leto had work permit issues which pretty much killed his chances at Liverpool. Wasn’t exactly a model professional during his loan spell with Olympiacos either.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis is ready to pay £5m for Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins. Daily Star

A lot of teams would be ready to pay only 5 million for Martins. Strikers of his quality, injury prone or not do not go for 5 million in English football.

Hodgson may also look at bringing Villerreal’s American forward Jozy Altidore to Craven Cottage. (Telegraph)

See what one goal against Spain will do for you? I’m sure fellow American and Fulham player Clint Demsey would approve of this move. Not likely to happen mind you.

Burnley boss Owen Coyle is closing in on Newcastle defender David Edgar. The full-back has had a medical at Turf Moor, along with Derby ace Tyrone Mears. The Sun

Would be quite a coup for David Edgar to still stay in the Premier league.

Manchester United fans want their new rugby league-style kit scrapped before it goes on sale next month. The shirt has a ‘V’ across the front and has been accused of looking “too American”. The Sun

With that I’ll wish you all a good weekend.

Real Madrid, Valencia To Formalise Raul Albiol Transfer On Thursday – Report

Reports emerged yesterday that Real Madrid had reached an agreement of around €15 million with Valencia to sign their star defender, Raul Albiol.

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Loved it when Liverpool where linked with Raul Albiol and still love it now that Real Madrid appears set to make this transfer a reality. This would solve two areas of concern for Real Madrid. One it would increase the Spanish content in the starting 11 which I’ve always felt is important to have and two it should help Iker Casillas from having to pick balls up from the back of the net like he did so often last year.

Porto President: Milan Must Pay Up Or Forget Aly Cissokho

Porto have told Milan to return to the original terms of the deal or forget about the player as there will not even be a €1 discount…

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You tell em Pinto da Costa. That is what I want to hear. Have you no shame agreeing on a price then taking the player back because of his teeth? The worst excuse I have ever heard. This is the second comment from da Costa which I’ve loved this month. The other was towards Ronaldo in the lead up to last months World Cup qualifying when he said “Ronaldo has no trouble celebrating goals against Porto yet I don’t see the best player in the world scoring many goals lately when wearing the Portuguese national team jersey.”

David Villa Reveals His Valencia Future Will Be Clarified After Sunday

‘El Guaje’ has assured that any questions about his club future will be answered once and for all by next week.

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Largely kept quiet regarding David Villa because like so many I have no idea how this transfer saga will end up. You know he is going somewhere since he would of spoken up if he planned to stay put but where to now is the question?

Wigan say they have received “acceptable” bids of £14m to £18m from Manchester United and Real Madrid for winger Antonio Valencia. Daily Mail

It was just a couple of years ago Valencia just shipped out to Wigan originally on loan. Now two of the biggest clubs in the world are calling for his services.

United are also interested in signing Atletico Madrid’s Argentine striker Sergio Aguero, who scored 17 goals in La Liga last season and is valued at £45m. The Independent

Nothing new with regards to Aguero who I don’t see leaving Atletico Madrid for at least another year.

Midfielder Cesc Fabregas has dropped his biggest hint yet that he could leave Arsenal, calling the club “impotent” because of their failure to challenge for the title and suggesting he would like to join Real Madrid. The Sun

Fabregas famously left his boyhood club Barcelona so it wouldn’t be impossible to image him playing for Real Madrid sometime down the road.

Middlesbrough have paved the way for winger Stewart Downing to join Tottenham by signing Mark Yeates from Colchester (Daily Express).

Good news Boro fans you have replaced an England international with a player from Colchester.

Turkish club Besiktas want Portsmouth midfielder John Utaka and Greek top-flight newcomers Atromitos are interested in Pompey’s veteran defender Sol Campbell (Daily Mirror).

Utaka hasn’t exactly set the world on fire since coming over a couple of years ago. As for Campbell ending your career in Greece isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Former Liverpool and Sunderland striker Djibril Cisse is to have a medical with Greek side Panathinaikos (Daily Star).

Says something about his time at England last year that no other EPL club tried to snatch Cisse.

Liverpool have received an offer from Malaga for their unwanted goalkeeper, Charles Itandje, who was fined for misbehaving during the Hillsborough memorial service (The Guardian).

Only took them two years to dump Itandje on some other club.

Stoke have added Newcastle striker Alan Smith to their list of summer transfer targets (Daily Telegraph).

This would be music to Newcastle’s ears.

England Under-21 winger Theo Walcott says he played so badly against Finland in the European Under-21 Championship that even his parents booed him when he was substituted. (Various)

At least he had a sense of humour about it. The time to stop getting by on potential is quickly coming to end up for Walcott. He’ll need to prove soon that he can play at a top level game in and game out instead of just showing flashes of brilliance one game and being invisible the next.

Great win today which does a world of good for the U.S soccer program and gives them the boost they need going into next years World Cup. Greatest win ever however it isn’t. Their was a mediocre movie called The Game Of Their Lives about a team of largely amateur American soccer players defeating England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup. Now that is the greatest football victory American has ever produced which more people on this side of the Atlantic should be made more aware of.

Not the greatest piece of film but hey this happened nearly 60 years ago.